“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus?” Years ago, songs about the blood of Jesus, its power, its efficacy, were sung with much conviction. Today, the blood of Jesus is rarely sung about. Many today are repulsed by such songs and would prefer to keep the focus on the love of God rather than speak about the blood required by a just and angry God.
But the blood of Jesus as a sufficient sacrifice for sin cannot be ignored in the gospel message. Indeed, it is the gospel message. “What can wash away my sin?” the song inquires. “Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” the Scripture responds. Notice that I said, the Scripture responds. Everything in the Scripture points to the importance of the blood sacrifice. The writer of Hebrews (9:22) reminds us that, apart from the shedding of blood, “there is no remission of sin.” In Galatians 2:21, Paul reminds us that if one could be made righteous by keeping the law, then Christ died needlessly. Revelation 7 speaks of believers having been “washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.” The shedding of blood as payment for sin is a crucial doctrine that begins in the Old Testament in Genesis and culminates on the cross with the death of Jesus. Everything in the New Testament points back to that death as the reason that man has forgiveness. That’s why Peter speaks of the “precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:19).”
Why is something so repulsive as the blood of an innocent man so precious? In Hebrews 9, the writer of Hebrews gives us at least three reasons why this precious blood is so essential for our salvation. Let’s examine them each briefly.
1. It Alone Cleanses from a Nagging Conscience.
Does your conscience make you feel guilty? Have you done some things that even your own mind refuses to let go of? A young boy once defined conscience as “the voice in my head that makes me feel bad even when what I do feels good.” How can one get rid of such feelings? Such feelings will persist until a sufficient payment is made for the wrongs done. That’s why the blood of Jesus alone can cleanse you from a guilty conscience. That’s why Peter said that believing in Jesus “cleanses you from all the things that could not be forgiven through keeping the law.” Unless something is done that is sufficient to cover what you have done, then you will never have a clean conscience.
Such was the case with the nation of Israel. In Hebrews 10:1-3, the writer reminds them that the blood of animals never solved the problem of a guilty conscience. If it had, then the sacrifices would have stopped. But instead, the sacrifices became a painful reminder that no animal atonement was sufficient to satisfy God’s righteous demands. For that reason, the sacrifices had to continue year after year. Instead of soothing a nagging conscience, the sacrifices served as a poignant reminder of their sins. They continued to know that what they did, although it might continue to allow them to have a relationship with God, it was not sufficient to pay for sins. They needed a perfect Lamb of God who would “take away the sins of the world” and in doing so, cleanse a nagging conscience.
2. It Alone Demonstrates God’s Feeling About Sin.
In Hebrews 9:9, the writer speaks of the blood sacrifices as a “symbol.” They were designed by God to be a constant object lesson of how much God hates sin. Few things are more repulsive to man than the sight of blood being shed. While some become insensitive to the shedding of blood, this is not a normal reaction. The initial reaction of man to the shedding of blood, especially innocent blood, is very repulsive.
Some of you might recall an incident in the 1980s when an American cameraman was filmed being shot in the head by a Nicaraguan revolutionary. To see a man pleading for his life have a gun put to his head and have the trigger pulled was bad enough. To watch as his blood splattered everywhere disgusted even the more seasoned reporters of war. Nothing is more repulsive to us than the shedding of blood.
For this reason, God chose the blood sacrifice as a continual reminder to us of how serious our sin is. Nothing is more disgusting in God’s sight than our sin. While we tend to excuse our sin and make excuses and minimize its seriousness, God demonstrates to us, through the blood sacrifice that sin, every sin we commit, is repulsive in His sight and every sin requires the ultimate penalty–payment by blood alone. That’s why the Scripture says, “The soul that sins, it shall die” (Ezk. 18:4), and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). God has chosen the blood sacrifice to remind us always of how much He hates sin.
3. It Alone Bestows Eternal Blessing.
The blood of Christ is precious because it alone cleanses a nagging conscience and it alone reminds us how God feels about sin. But, more importantly, the blood of Jesus alone can bestow eternal blessing. In Hebrews 9:16-17, we are reminded that a testament only takes affect once the testator has died. In other words, a “last will and testament” has no power as long as that person remains alive. In the same way, all the blessings of a relationship to Jesus are tied to His death. In Hebrews 9:15, by means of His death, we now receive an eternal inheritance. Without the shedding of the blood of Jesus, none of this would be ours today.
Imagine yourself under a mountain of debts that you are unable to pay. Then one day a letter arrives informing you that a rich uncle has died and left you a great inheritance. Once you were poor–now you are rich! But it was his death that made you rich. Not anything you did or anything you deserved. His death made the difference. That’s why the apostle Paul says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through his poverty might be made rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). The death of Jesus provided an eternal inheritance for you. Not one that can waste away and used up and then the inheritor will be poor again; His blood made you the inheritor of an inheritance that will last throughout all eternity.
One last thing needs to be understood. In Hebrews 9:27-28, we read: “And as it is appointed for men to die once and after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” This Jesus who came once to shed His blood will return again, not to die again (His death was sufficient to cover all sin), but to come for those who have given their lives to Him. On the day that John D. Rockefeller died, two tramps were sitting on a New York city street corner. One tramp inquired: “Why are you crying? You weren’t related to him.” “That’s why I’m crying!” was the reply. If you are related to Jesus through His death, then you have a great inheritance. But if not, then you too have reason to cry. For it is appointed unto every man to die once, and then comes the judgment. If the blood of Jesus is not covering your sin, then you will be accountable to God for all your own sin. And the Bible reminds us that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus shed His blood to pay for sin. Apart from the shedding of His blood, there is no remission of sin. Apart from the blood of Jesus, there is no new covenant in His blood. Apart from His blood, there is no gospel to proclaim. That’s why His blood is so precious to them who believe.
Copyright Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International
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